A fellow new member, SM, at Datchet had a December problem of being unable to remove his rig after racing and put it down to a possible corrosion at the mast step. It is conceivable isn’t it? I’ve attached a little article about it below.
SM also introduced me to a new verb, as in “I had to dremel it out”. This got me going, I must admit. It turns out that a dremel is a little re-chargeable battery powered multitool – all sorts of bits and drills can go on the end. There’s a few different brands with similar, but not a bad thing for at least one club member to have in his car boot on a race day. About £40-£50….
Try this link below. Could be good birthday present idea!
A fellow member at my mid-week Club carefully records the winds each time he sails.
(Note to Self : “do the same”….)
The results of his journal, including Club Racing and Open Meetings, are pretty interesting:-
Total number of days attempted to race ……………………. 146 Total number of days abandoned due to lack of wind ……….3 Number of days sailed with a A rig…………………………………..101 Number of days sailed with a B rig…………………………………….14 Number of days sailed with a C rig……………………………………..26 Number of days sailed with a D rig………………………………………2
“This means a smaller rig was used 30% of the time. What is interesting is that the C rig was used more than the B rig, almost twice as much. I have a theory, and the figures would seem to support it, that the winds nowadays are such that it’s a case of all or nothing. I also think, and again this is only my opinion, the step from an A rig to a B rig is too small but the step from an A to a C is better. So if you are looking for a new rig to complement your A rig to enable you to sail more and enjoy the blows, perhaps your choice should be a C rig.”
My thanks to Roy o’D, of Chipstead RSC, for this intriguing analysis.
I have a couple of aluminium type stands in the house, and I’m hoping for another one quite soon. You know, nice clean aluminium legs with straps for the boat hull to sit in. You see a lot of them around.
Then I was down at my Wednesday club and decided to help a pal who was moving from car to shore for the race session. It’s about a 200 yard walk. You have to carry your transmitter (round your neck), the boat, maybe your rig bag, and the stand… plus in his case a chair to sit upon during racing. It’s a major feat, let me tell you. My friend left me carry his easy chair.
Then it occurred to me that on that IOM race day, nobody was using an aluminium stand. All the competitors had wooden stands, some of them just fantastic pieces of beautiful joinery in their own right. Gorgeous.
It was only then that it occurred to me was was really going on. On all these stands there was (i) an integrated carrying handle – see the black bar in the photo above (ii) the boat could be strapped securely to the stand. ….. When walking from the car park to the shore, you need one less arm. You simply pick up the stand by the handle and the boat gets a safe free ride.
There were interesting variations in keel supports (see above) ranging from velcro straps or bungee cords, or in one case a U-shaped keel support which would have its merits.
We have published links elsewhere on this website (see the Category list and select “Stands”) with plans for wooden IOM stands like this.
Datchet Radio Sailing - Making It All Much Easier !! 